


Headstone

by lionessvalenti



Category: White Collar
Genre: Cemetery, Episode Tag, F/M, Flashback, Goodbyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-14
Updated: 2011-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-16 23:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/170365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before heading to Chicago, Keller has one stop to make. Coda to episode 2.14, Payback.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Headstone

**Author's Note:**

> Beta read by Lefaym.

Keller had never been particularly attached to New York. It was a useful city, but now that he needed to get out, he wasn't going to miss it. Not until it was useful again. He knew some guys in Chicago, and that was his next stop.

But first, there was one place to go before he got in the car and headed west.

He stood with his hands in his pockets, staring at the granite headstone. Kate Moreau. 1981-2010.

He'd heard about the explosion while he had been in prison, and it wasn't fun to rub his relationship with Kate in Neal's face anymore. It was one thing when she had been spending nights in his bed while Neal was inside, but now... it wasn't worth it. He had respect for the dead and he'd had other leverage over Neal today.

It started because Keller loved pissing Neal off, but there was something about Kate. It wasn't just the off-the-chart sexual chemistry, either. He wasn't stupid enough to fall in love, but if he had, it would have been with her.

It'd been nearly two years since the last time he'd seen her. He wasn't an idiot. He knew she was only there because she was lonely for Caffrey, but he had chosen to ignore that. She was there just a few weeks before she ready to leave, and hadn't wanted her to go.

 _"You know, Kate, you haven't worn out your welcome," Keller said, watching as she packed her bag. "You don't have to go."_

 _"Yeah, I do," she replied. "This was a mistake, Matthew. You knew I wasn't going to stay."_

 _He held his hands up in surrender. "A man can dream."_

 _"You're sweet." Kate paused and put her hands on her hips. "Actually, no you're not. You're kind of a terrible person, but you know that's not why I'm leaving. I feel guilty, and that's outweighing everything else. I'm in love with Neal."_

 _"And yet, here you are."_

 _"And there lies the mistake. It's hard." She sat down on the table across from him and took his hand. "It's harder than I thought, the waiting. Talking to him through glass. Not getting to touch him... and none of this means anything to you, does it?"_

 _He shook his head. "Not really, no. In fact, on a list of things I couldn't care less about, your feelings for Neal Caffrey, or anything about Neal, are right at the top. I might care about starving children in Africa less, but it's a close call."_

 _She leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "As much of a dick as you've been to Neal, you've been that good to me. That's why I've been here. But I can't do that to him anymore. If it's a contest, and always been a contest with you two, I'm going to pick him every time."_

 _"Maybe," Keller replied. "Maybe not."_

 _"I like your optimism." Kate got up and zipped her bag closed before slinging it over her shoulder. "It's been real, Matthew. Don't get caught."_

 _"Yeah, you either," he said._

 _She gave him an awkward wave and then she was gone._

Nothing about that moment implied that he'd never see her again. He'd been sure that she would come back to him again before Neal's sentence was up, but she never did. Then he'd heard through the grapevine that Kate had dumped Neal, not six months after she'd walked out the door that day, and that Caffrey was working for the feds. Keller had expected to find her on his doorstep. That hadn't happened either.

And now Kate was dead. The contest was over.

At least that portion of the contest. Keller got to outsmart Neal, get out of prison, and get his revenge on Lang all in one nice, neat con. It felt like victory. It _was_ victory. It was freedom. It was everything he wanted.

Almost everything.

"If we'd been together, you wouldn't be here," Keller muttered. He pulled the small rock from his pocket and set it on top of the headstone. He took a step backward and shook his head. "I guess this is goodbye."

He strolled out of the cemetery and got into his car.

It was a long drive to Chicago.


End file.
